Mother's Woodburning Hot-Oil Furnace

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

AND IT WORKS LIKE A CHARM!

We're happy to report that the furnace design has proved itself to be sound, and that the unit is impressively efficient. Flue temperatures average below 400°F, which means that a good deal of heat is going into the oil rather than up the chimney. And, as long as the welds aren't defective and oil temperatures never exceed the liquid's flash point (435°F), the apparatus is perfectly safe.

So far, we've been nothing but pleased with the way our little backyard nonboiler works . . . but we've got a few ideas up our collective sleeve which—we hope—will increase the practicality (and/or lower the operating cost) of the furnace. These include burying the container in a sand pit to minimize loss of heat, installing an oil-burner unit—on an interchangeable door—to provide maintenance heat when the operator has to be away, and even experimenting with corn as the sole source of raw material to feed the furnace/still combination. (We hope the kernels will provide oil for heat storage plus starch and sugar for alcohol production, while the stalks and cobs serve as fuel for the firebox!)

Meanwhile, because of the heating unit's very affordable cost (about $300) and the fact that it can burn minimal amounts of fuel and still provide useful energy, this homemade furnace might just solve a lot of people's winter warming problems

Remember, if you intend to use these drawings to fabricate an alcohol-producing still, a permit from the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is required before you can operate your distillery. Write to your local regional ATF office for information . . . and please don't distill without one, for your sake and for the sake of others interested in making their own renewable fuel!

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print